Escanaba Trough: Exploring the Seafloor and Oceanic Footprints

This highly-successful expedition is drawing to a close. We conducted a few more remotely operated vehicle dives, cores, and water sampling casts where we sampled an interesting pillow lava formation under the watchful eye of an octopus.

Once all the equipment was back on the deck of Research Vessel Thomas G. Thompson, we began packing the labs as the ship journeyed back to Newport, Oregon. This involves preparing samples, apparatus, supplies, and equipment for shipping. Some of the samples are being driven back, some are shipped to other researchers, and a few are packed in dry ice and overnighted for storage in laboratory deep freezers while awaiting analysis.

Once all that was accomplished, scientists relaxed by watching a movie in the striped-down lab. The next morning, the crew laid out mooring lines as the ship approached Newport’s harbor mouth, spanned by a large bridge.

By Paul Knorr, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management

Published June 15, 2022